tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89103548656493469872024-03-13T04:06:22.179-07:00evergreen eclectic academy~ established 2007Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-40948009756950204792008-05-25T11:46:00.001-07:002008-05-25T12:03:30.176-07:00Weekly Biweekly Monthly Quarterly+ ReportHi. I'm Tammy. And I'm a "Weekly Reporter" dropout. Big time.<br /><br />It's time for a LONG overdue update on the happenings here at EEA. I promise to just hit the highlights and not bore you with every little detail of the past 14 weeks (give or take a week), as well as touch on my plans for next year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> Grace has almost finished Spelling Workout B. It has been going well--she seems to be a "workbooky" type gal...just like me. We are still analyzing the words each week using SWR markings. I think we will continue this combination for 3rd grade.<br /><br />For reading, after almost completing Book 2 of the Elson Readers, we mixed things up a bit by moving to Sonlight Readers-Grade 3 (the name has now been changed back to Sonlight Readers 2-Intermediate, just to confuse you). We are also using the suggested Read Alouds from Core 1. Let me just say--as many others have said before me--that Sonlight knows how to pick great age-appropriate (but challenging) literature. Grace is currently reading <span style="font-style: italic;">The Chalk-Box Kid</span>, and our read-alouds at the moment are <span style="font-style: italic;">Follow My Leader</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Mrs. Piggle Wiggle</span>. Fantastic stuff here! I think we'll continue with SL readers & read-alouds for third grade.<br /><br />As far as grammar goes...well there isn't much going on in that department these days. We've completely abandoned <span style="font-style: italic;">First Language Lessons</span>. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. I tried to stick with it. I really, really did. But if I had to follow the scripted "repeat this 3 times" or have your kiddo "repeat that 3 times" just <span style="font-style: italic;">one more time</span>...well...let's just say it wouldn't be pretty. Next year I'm hoping to find something that incorporates grammar into a writing program, or at least a stand-alone grammar program that is a little more interesting (if such an animal exists).<br /><br />This past week I have transitioned Grace into cursive copywork, which has considerably lessened the grumble-factor when that copywork page makes its appearance.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span> We are frantically trying to wrap up Horizons 2. I've started doubling-up the pages each day, crossing out repetitious material. We should be finished in another month or so, then we'll focus on getting those multiplication facts <span style="font-style: italic;">down cold</span> before starting 3rd grade in the fall.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY:</span> There's been a bit of flip-flopping around in this area. We attempted to switch completely to Sonlight Core 1 about 1/3 of the way through SOTW1. It was o.k., but the history core isn't as fabulous (IMHO) as the readers or read-alouds. Now...in the interest of finishing Ancient History this year...we've switched back to SOTW1, but I'm paring it down by skipping the extra reading & activities. We basically just read the chapter, then do the review questions, narrations, coloring pages & mapwork and move on to the next chapter. I have <span style="font-style: italic;">no idea</span> what I want to use for next year. Argh...the indecision.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SCIENCE:</span> Well, after long intervals between topics, we have finally made it to the "Plants" portion of our life science studies for the year. Next year I definitely need a well laid out plan as far as science goes. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Well-Trained Mind</span> method of using a spine & supplementing with library books just doesn't <span style="font-style: italic;">git 'er done</span> around these parts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH: </span>We are still using <span style="font-style: italic;">Elementary Spanish</span> as our *main* curriculum, then adding in various books, songs & games for fun. The jury's still out on next year's plan though.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CO-OP:</span> It's hard to believe that our first year of co-op has ended. All of the Musical Theatre classes joined together for a production of "OZ!" this past Monday & Tuesday evenings. Grace's class played the roles of the munchkins, the flying monkeys, the poppies (girls), and the fighting trees (boys). It was a hoot! Next year Grace will be taking gymnastics (again), art (again), animal science, and a "Books to Build On" class. They also have some great new additions to the preschool class lineup. Emma will take preschool storytime (again), music, and gymnastics. They are both looking forward to the fall.<br /><br />Whew. I think that just about covers it. I'm neck-deep in curriculum researching, planning, and shopping for next year. What to keep? What to change? What to add? <span style="font-style: italic;">¡Ay carumba!</span> I feel my OCD kicking in...Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-4624151535254865322008-02-20T17:47:00.001-08:002008-02-20T17:48:11.921-08:00Wordless Wednesday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R7zYQKS6gGI/AAAAAAAAAQM/DJpvtGhwQno/s1600-h/20080220_EEA-WW.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R7zYQKS6gGI/AAAAAAAAAQM/DJpvtGhwQno/s400/20080220_EEA-WW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169244244467679330" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-26564192204335892282008-02-13T01:30:00.001-08:002008-02-13T01:31:22.558-08:00Wordless Wednesday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R7K44ri0yII/AAAAAAAAAQE/LU1mDcjvx9g/s1600-h/20080213_EEA-WW.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R7K44ri0yII/AAAAAAAAAQE/LU1mDcjvx9g/s400/20080213_EEA-WW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166395006448355458" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-44349066213604974442008-02-06T01:18:00.000-08:002008-02-06T01:27:52.940-08:00Wordless Wednesday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6l9iBgHsLI/AAAAAAAAAP8/76QuJknl5Sg/s1600-h/20080206_EEA-WW.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6l9iBgHsLI/AAAAAAAAAP8/76QuJknl5Sg/s400/20080206_EEA-WW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163796471229165746" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-45193697160260050802008-02-04T00:53:00.000-08:002008-02-04T01:10:43.936-08:00I've been tagged :)So I'm checking my StatCounter to see if anyone has read my blog lately, where they linked from, yadda, yadda, yadda...and I click on a unfamiliar link to find out that I'VE BEEN TAGGED! Ack! Normally I never get around to filling these kinds of things out, but this one looks relatively simple. By the way, go & check out the culprit--<a href="http://allenacademy.wordpress.com/">Amy at Allen Academy</a>--she's got one nifty blog! :)<br /><br /><p><b>Book Meme</b></p> <p>Rules:<br />Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).<br />Open the book to page 123.<br />Find the fifth sentence.<br />Post the next three sentences.<br />Tag five people.</p><br />I located my nearest stack of books, and chose the one from the top. It was a dud. Page 123 contained only a list, no full sentences. On to book #2, it only had 120 pages. I had a little more luck with this one--<span style="font-style: italic;">A Charlotte Mason Companion</span> by Karen Andreola. From page 123:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But she will bear in mind that the child of six [or seven] has begun the serious business of his education, it does not matter much whether he understands this word or that, but it matters a great deal that he should learn to deal directly with books. Whatever a child or grown-up person can tell, that we may be sure he knows, and what he cannot tell, he does not know. Let us give our children a variety books to narrate.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span>Now...my challenge to find 5 more previously untagged people to tag. Instead of posting names, I challenge the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">next 5 people to read this post</span></span> to leave your book meme answers in the comments. That means YOU!!!<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-74069126076697149712008-02-03T22:09:00.000-08:002008-02-03T23:37:34.294-08:00Bi-Weekly Update – Weeks #19 & 20Here's a brief summary of our last two weeks:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> The combination of SWO with SWR markings & rules is really working well. The "Warm-Up Test" from the SWO lesson helps identify particular spelling rules that we need to spend some extra time reviewing. Then we'll mark the words & I'll dictate sentences for any words that Grace missed. In FLL, we're slowly making progress. Some days it's easy to combine lessons, and Grace has finished copying & illustrating "The Months" by Sara Coleridge...it's all ready to be bound into a book.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9YxgHsEI/AAAAAAAAAPE/mkQ45ErXNyU/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-spelling.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9YxgHsEI/AAAAAAAAAPE/mkQ45ErXNyU/s400/20080201_EEA-spelling.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163022256129421378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">READING:</span> I highly recommend the <span style="font-style: italic;">Elson Readers</span>. Well, at least Book 2 in the series, since that's all we've used so far. Grace reads about 8-10 pages aloud to me each day from it, and then 2-3 times a week I'll have her do one of the <span style="font-style: italic;">McCall-Crabbs</span> readings. This combination has really bolstered her fluency and--most importantly--her reading confidence! She continues to read independently at bedtime and has finished her second <span style="font-style: italic;">Nancy Drew & the Clue Crew</span> book. We finished our read-aloud of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mary Poppins</span> and have started reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Nancy Drew Mysteries #2: The Hidden Staircase</span>. Grace even read the first chapter in the book aloud to me one afternoon, because she wanted to read "something even harder" than her <span style="font-style: italic;">Elson Reader</span> material. It took some extra time...and lots of sounding out words...but she read that entire chapter to me in one sitting!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span></span> Math continues to be one of the high points in our day. And really...shouldn't math be a high point in <span style="font-style: italic;">everyone's</span> day?!?!? Subtraction is getting easier & easier for Grace with more practice, and she's been pretty quick to catch on to multiplication (by 0, 1, 5, & 10 so far). Last week she started adding three 2-digit numbers without even batting one of her long lashes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZRgHsFI/AAAAAAAAAPM/3x0HwbGUYgk/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-math.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZRgHsFI/AAAAAAAAAPM/3x0HwbGUYgk/s400/20080201_EEA-math.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163022264719355986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span></span> Two more chapters down in SOTW1. Then a brief pause while awaiting the arrival of my Sonlight order. Tomorrow we will pick up at week 17 in SL Core 1, using SOTW as our "spine" instead of CHOW. Although I reserve the right to change my mind on that one. :) In science, we've learned about hair, skin & nails, and Grace has started working on her "Five Senses" lapbook from HOAC. Grace & Emma each filled in the face to add to their body outlines:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZRgHsGI/AAAAAAAAAPU/2p2ZOJ5R240/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-face1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZRgHsGI/AAAAAAAAAPU/2p2ZOJ5R240/s400/20080201_EEA-face1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163022264719356002" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZxgHsHI/AAAAAAAAAPc/cUaR-TfOSpY/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-face2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6a9ZxgHsHI/AAAAAAAAAPc/cUaR-TfOSpY/s400/20080201_EEA-face2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163022273309290610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">OTHER:</span></span> We're working on Unit 2 from the Elementary Spanish series which, coincidentally, is about <span style="font-style: italic;">mi cuerpo</span>. It'll be nice to label the girlies' body outlines in both English & Español. Also, we've worked through the first 6 units from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Spanish for Children</span> cd & workbook, watched a couple of TOPS! episodes (kind of a game show format), and Grace has almost finished her first letter to her Spanish penpal. I'm really enjoying learning Spanish alongside the girls. It was an especially thrilling moment for me at a restaurant restroom this weekend when I could read the Spanish part of the handwashing poster. Not quite as exciting as math, I know, but still...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AND IN CLOSING:</span></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">{brag alert}</span> The other morning Emma was busily working with her Fridge Phonics letters and...quite proudly...spelled these gems on her own. These are the little moments that make your heart melt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIBgHsII/AAAAAAAAAPk/WcML3gNjMB0/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-mom.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIBgHsII/AAAAAAAAAPk/WcML3gNjMB0/s400/20080201_EEA-mom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163025266901495938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIRgHsJI/AAAAAAAAAPs/hkQ8qMpxFDU/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-dad.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIRgHsJI/AAAAAAAAAPs/hkQ8qMpxFDU/s400/20080201_EEA-dad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163025271196463250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIhgHsKI/AAAAAAAAAP0/fY9y2lnaIsE/s1600-h/20080201_EEA-em.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6bAIhgHsKI/AAAAAAAAAP0/fY9y2lnaIsE/s400/20080201_EEA-em.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163025275491430562" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-38148569093619361292008-01-30T13:55:00.001-08:002008-01-30T13:56:48.846-08:00Wordless Wednesday...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6DyhhgHsDI/AAAAAAAAAO8/DUgew969W3A/s1600-h/20080124_WigginOut.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R6DyhhgHsDI/AAAAAAAAAO8/DUgew969W3A/s400/20080124_WigginOut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161391830709284914" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-55742011509612775942008-01-18T22:34:00.000-08:002008-01-18T23:50:36.783-08:00We now resume our regularly scheduled programming...So, it's been a while since I've posted. Thankfully not due to any unforeseen emergencies or illnesses, but rather due to my own laziness. Once Thanksgiving hits, I usually go into full panic mode over Christmas shopping, creating that *perfect* holiday card, and trying not to consume all of the yummy treats & goodies in sight. This year I managed to meet 2 of those 3 goals. So on January 2nd, I joined Weight Watchers...but that's another story altogether.<br /><br />I'm sure that you, my one or two faithful readers, are more interested in what we've been up to at EEA over the past few weeks. For simplicity's sake--and since we've just completed week #18--we'll jump into Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine to the time of the dinosaurs when I attended elementary school. Back then, we got our report cards every six weeks. So I'll just call this EEA's Six-Week Report.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> Grace just completed Lesson 11 in SWO-B. I've incorporated a bit here & there from SWR (mainly markings & spelling rules) as we've gone along to reinforce the lessons. In FLL, we gone through Lesson 124, occasionally supplementing with the FlashKids Language Arts workbook for additional practice. This past week we've also been ramping up from all copywork to more dictation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">READING:</span> Once again, it seems that Grace's reading is taking off! Both fluency & comprehension. For her read-aloud-to-me time, we've started using <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elson-Readers-Book-Two/dp/1890623164/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200726777&sr=8-4">Elson Readers-Book 2</a>.</span> Great stories that have prompted some interesting discussions. I've also started adding in selections from <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=145257&event=CF"><span style="font-style: italic;">McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading</span></a> on a regular basis. And this week I had Grace take the DIBELS assessment. All of the testing materials, as well as instructions on giving & scoring the test are available for FREE (my favorite price) on the <a href="http://dibels.uoregon.edu/">Official DIBELS Home Page</a>. For independent reading, Grace has been choosing her own books. This week she started <span style="font-style: italic;">Nancy Drew & the Clue Crew : The Cinderella Ballet Mystery</span>. We finished our read-aloud of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Popper's Penguins</span> many moons ago and have since gone through a variety of holiday & winter selections. We are now about 3/4 of the way finished with <span style="font-style: italic;">Mary Poppins</span>. It's not quite the same as the movie, but very, very interesting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">MATH:</span> Still groovin' right along in Horizons 2. Grace just finished Lesson 66, and--I'm soooooo excited--we've started multiplication. (You're not the first to think my math-induced elation is strange.) And...great math moment...I know some of you have heard this story before--a few times. We were at the park sometime last month. Grace & Emma were on the playground with another 7-year-old kid. He was doing some math problems out loud. The usual garden variety 10+10=20, 20+20=40, etc. Then he decided to get tricky and said, "100+23+123=223." I looked at Grace--who had this *that-don't-sound-quite-right* look on her face. Then, without missing a beat, she said (somewhat politely), "No it's not. It's 246." Mental math--on the playground. I'm so proud...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> The whole month of December was quite light on these subjects. But we've started the year with renewed vigor. We've made it through Ch. 13 in SOTW, and we've starting the "Human Body" portion of our life science studies this year. We've read a slew of library books on various topics. So far, Grace's favorite has been germs. And, today I purchased "The Five Senses" & "The Human Body" lapbook e-books from <a href="http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/">Hands of a Child</a>. They are having an awesome sale this weekend. I've had my eye on their project packs for quite a while, so 45% off was a great incentive for me to try some.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">OTHER:</span> Spanish also seemed to suffer during the holiday season. We're just starting up again with Elementary Spanish Unit 2. Co-op is still going well...although we had an unplanned break this week due to snow. Now I just need to get those snow pics from camera to computer. I've also started researching curriculum options for next year. I'm thinking of something a little more formal for Emma next year...maybe Horizon's new Preschool???<br /><br />And that brings our recap to a close. Sorry there are no pictures this time, but I did change the blog banner from the pumpkin patch photo...Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-85917734505989235762007-11-18T22:03:00.000-08:002007-11-18T23:03:20.389-08:00Week #11 In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />LANGUAGE ARTS: Grace completed lessons 4-6 in SWO-B this week, as well as lessons 115-117 in FLL. In keeping with the whole sports theme in Spelling Workout, I added a special incentive for Grace...the spelling <span style="font-style: italic;">homerun</span>. If she spells all the list words correctly--without hesitation--during the Warm-Up Test, then she only has to complete 1-2 of the activities & she can <span style="font-style: italic;">skip the final test</span>. It was a real winner!<br /><br />READING: We began our new read-aloud book this week, <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Popper's Penguins.</span> Very funny stuff! Grace is still independently reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Junie B. Jones: Boss of Lunch</span>. She also read several other books, poems, and passages that tied into our other subjects. One of our unexpected *themes* for Monday was <span style="font-style: italic;">the wind</span>. We had battened down the hatches in preparation for the strong windstorm predicted for the Pacific Northwest. Fortunately, we only had a few really big gusts in our little neck-o-the-woods. But we did manage to <span style="font-size:100%;">find--and read--every</span> single poem we have about the wind.<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br />MATH: Grace finished lessons 34-37 in Horizons 2. Still going strong! She has turned into my little Energizer Bunny of math. YAY! She even worked in some P.E. and math together. How? Simple...count how many times you hula-hoop in one try, write it down, count the next try, write it down, add the two together, then lather, rinse, & repeat.<br /><br />HISTORY & SCIENCE: We read Chapter 8 ~ The Assyrians in SOTW1. Grace did her narration, coloring page, map work, and copywork. For science, we started studying penguins. The DVD of <span style="font-style: italic;">March of the Penguins</span> just arrived from NetFlix for us to watch this coming week.<br /><br />ELEMENTARY SPANISH: Grace completed lessons 8-10 from Elementary Spanish Unit 1 on UnitedStreaming. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a letter from her new Spanish penpal. :)<br /><br />OTHER: I even managed to get some *major* house cleaning & organization done, including assembling three of these <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50103086">cute little bookcases</a> from IKEA: two for the playroom/learning room & one for the study. Yay me! Next week's challenge...to finish painting (living room, entryway, upstairs & downstairs hallways) before putting up the Christmas tree & decorations. Hmmm...anyone up for Christmas in July?!?!?<br /><br />In closing, what do you get when you stock up on new PlayDoh? A couple of happy gals, and colors that aren't mixed...yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R0E08KqoCGI/AAAAAAAAAOg/GwLXuTm9QMc/s1600-h/20071117_EEA-playdough1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R0E08KqoCGI/AAAAAAAAAOg/GwLXuTm9QMc/s400/20071117_EEA-playdough1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134443258439010402" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R0E08aqoCHI/AAAAAAAAAOo/yfjG1mQtq4c/s1600-h/20071117_EEA-playdough2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/R0E08aqoCHI/AAAAAAAAAOo/yfjG1mQtq4c/s400/20071117_EEA-playdough2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134443262733977714" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-58797784597836762972007-11-11T21:53:00.000-08:002007-11-11T22:52:30.606-08:00Week #10 In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Another week...another report. And this one is even on a (somewhat) timely basis. :) Here's the scoop:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS: </span>We completed Lesson 3 in SWO-B and Lessons 112-114 in FLL. Grace started copying & illustrating the January-March pages of "The Months" by Sara Coleridge.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING: </span>Both Grace's independent reading & our read-alouds were a hodge-podge of books this week. We will start our next *official* read-aloud, <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Popper's Penguins</span>, this coming week to coincide with our science unit on...you guessed it...penguins.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH: </span>Grace is keeping a steady pace with Horizons 2. She finished Lessons 29-33 this week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SCIENCE & HISTORY: </span>For science, we learned all about salmon this week. Another great <span style="font-style: italic;">Magic School Bus</span> book on this topic ~ <span style="font-style: italic;">MSB Goes Upstream</span>:<span style="font-style: italic;"> A Book About Salmon Migration. </span>In history, we read Chapters 6-7 in SOTW1. Grace did the usual activities to go along with the chapters...narrations, map work, crosswords, word finds...but by far my favorite was creating a scrapbook page using our set of house rules. Why was this my favorite? (1) Grace is scrapbooking, and (2) we incorporated a bad pun. [tee hee] Here's our take on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Code of Hammurabi</span>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JfgskaI/AAAAAAAAAMw/vMr9AF0RrK4/s1600-h/20071109_EEA-sotw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JfgskaI/AAAAAAAAAMw/vMr9AF0RrK4/s400/20071109_EEA-sotw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131840943349862818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Code of MOM-urabi</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH:</span> Grace watched the video for Elementary Spanish-Unit 1-Lesson 7, then completed the activity sheet & did some copywork.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">OTHER:</span> Co-op is moving right along. Grace's "Musical Theatre" class will be performing <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wizard of Oz </span>in the spring, so it's fun to drop in & watch the early stages of rehearsal. Emma gets a kick out of it too...and loves to sing along! Not much got done this week in music & art appreciation, unless you count our attendance of "Go Diego Go! LIVE" this afternoon. It was a belated birthday festivity for the divine Miss Em. I'll close with a few pics...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JfgskbI/AAAAAAAAAM4/HGR419NrLyo/s1600-h/20071109_EEA-diego1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JfgskbI/AAAAAAAAAM4/HGR419NrLyo/s400/20071109_EEA-diego1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131840943349862834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Outside the Paramount Theatre before the show</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskcI/AAAAAAAAANA/IWHipabl2EI/s1600-h/20071109_EEA-diego2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskcI/AAAAAAAAANA/IWHipabl2EI/s400/20071109_EEA-diego2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131840947644830146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A very happy three year old</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskdI/AAAAAAAAANI/sZevi5v0BwQ/s1600-h/20071109_EEA-diego3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskdI/AAAAAAAAANI/sZevi5v0BwQ/s400/20071109_EEA-diego3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131840947644830162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Miss Gigi McGee patiently poses for the paparazzi (aka ME!)</span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskeI/AAAAAAAAANQ/GXPtEm4axjQ/s1600-h/20071109_EEA-diego4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rzf2JvgskeI/AAAAAAAAANQ/GXPtEm4axjQ/s400/20071109_EEA-diego4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131840947644830178" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Matthew pondering the true meaning of Diego</span><br /></div>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-72208152886801919252007-11-04T21:56:00.000-08:002007-11-05T00:35:26.920-08:00Weeks 8 & 9 ~ In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So, I didn’t get around to posting a weekly report last week. No…I wasn’t trapped under something heavy…just very busy. You can read more about it below, if you’ve got the time or inclination. If not, here’s what’s been happening at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Evergreen</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Eclectic</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Academy</st1:placetype></st1:place> over the past two weeks.<o:p><br /></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> Our switch from SWR to Spelling Workout is going well. We’ve completed the first two weeks of SWO-B…discussing spelling rules & phonograms (from SWR) as we go along. FLL is also going smoothly. When we reached lesson #111—the first reading of FLL’s adaptation of “The Year” by Sara Coleridge—it was fun to find several different versions of the poem and compare the differences from one to the other. In the end, I had Grace choose which version she wanted to memorize. It was not the one in FLL, but rather the *original* by Sara Coleridge. Grace will begin memorizing it next week, as well as creating her own illustrated book of the poem.<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city style="font-weight: bold;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">READING</st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> We started—and finished—a new read-aloud over the past two weeks. Let me just say that if you’ve never read <i style="">Understood Betsy</i> by Dorothy Canfield, you are missing out. It is a fabulous book! For independent reading, Grace chose several Halloween-themed selections. She also finished her first <i style="">Junie B. Jones</i> chapter book…and then promptly chose another one to read. And, no...these photos are not <span style="font-style: italic;">in the least bit</span> staged. Would I ever do such a thing?!? And would my dear daughter so graciously agree?!?<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7OhSNHXGI/AAAAAAAAAMA/Mp4Jufip6AM/s1600-h/20071102_EEA-read1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7OhSNHXGI/AAAAAAAAAMA/Mp4Jufip6AM/s400/20071102_EEA-read1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129264096839425122" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7OhiNHXHI/AAAAAAAAAMI/qwT28yoWpe4/s1600-h/20071102_EEA-read2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7OhiNHXHI/AAAAAAAAAMI/qwT28yoWpe4/s400/20071102_EEA-read2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129264101134392434" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span> Still moving along in Horizons 2, and I’m quite pleased to report that Grace’s interest in math has increased with her understanding of it. YAY!!! Those who know me well will understand (& appreciate) this next statement…those who don’t may think I’m a little strange. (OK…let’s be honest…even those who know me well will think I’m strange.) I am absolutely, positively ecstatic that Grace actually does math <i style="">for fun…on her own…without any prodding by me</i>. She makes up her own math problems and then works them. She asks me to make up problems for her. She asks to do extra one-minute timed drills. She was even working math problems today while shopping at IKEA. Here's one of her *for fun* sheets:<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7SKyNHXII/AAAAAAAAAMQ/H6OfQXgqW4c/s1600-h/20071102_EEA-mathforfun.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7SKyNHXII/AAAAAAAAAMQ/H6OfQXgqW4c/s400/20071102_EEA-mathforfun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129268108338879618" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> We worked through chapters 4 & 5 in SOTW1—Ancient Egyptian pyramids and the first Sumerian king—and finished our study of bats. We did lots of fun reading & watched some good UnitedStreaming videos too.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7SKyNHXJI/AAAAAAAAAMY/vJxB-ipEzXo/s1600-h/20071102_EEA-sotw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7SKyNHXJI/AAAAAAAAAMY/vJxB-ipEzXo/s400/20071102_EEA-sotw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129268108338879634" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH:</span> We did a couple of lessons from Elementary Spanish, including some activity sheets & copywork. Sidenote: I know I still haven’t posted on our eclectic Spanish plan…{hanging my head in shame}…it’s coming…soon-ish.</p><p class="MsoNormal">And that sums up another [bi]weekly report. I'll leave you with a photo of the newest 3-year-old in our house—along with proud big sis—taken on a cool fall day here in the <st1:place st="on">Pacific Northwest</st1:place>. Happy fall, y'all!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7VfCNHXLI/AAAAAAAAAMo/oxUw_xW_DUw/s1600-h/20071102_EEA-girlies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ry7VfCNHXLI/AAAAAAAAAMo/oxUw_xW_DUw/s400/20071102_EEA-girlies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129271754766113970" border="0" /></a></p>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-6587562725446442442007-11-03T23:54:00.000-07:002007-11-04T00:31:47.649-07:00I'm still here!Things have been a bit on the busy side for the past week or so. We celebrated Miss Emma's birthday last weekend. She turned the big 3...which meant she really got into the whole birthday thing this year. We also had Halloween festivities, co-op, swimming...and we spent yesterday afternoon at the Creating Keepsakes scrapbook convention. I do think I enjoyed that much more than the girls did. :) Plus, I spent my *free* time this week working like mad to finish up a "First Year" scrapbook gift for a baby shower today. Whew! So...short story long...I haven't had time to blog this week. <gasp>[<span style="font-style: italic;">gasp</span>] I'll try to get my weekly report for the last 2 weeks posted tomorrow, but I'll leave you with a peek at the album I made.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Girl Album - pgs. 1-10</span><br /><br /></gasp><div style="width: 360px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w199.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/51dac96e.pbw" height="240" width="360"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: left;" /></a><a href="http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/?action=view&current=51dac96e.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?action=slideshow" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Girl Album - pgs. 11-20</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="width: 360px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w199.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/60034aa5.pbw" height="240" width="360"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: left;" /></a><a href="http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/?action=view&current=60034aa5.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?action=slideshow" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Girl Album - pgs. 21-30</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="width: 360px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w199.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/b2ac6724.pbw" height="240" width="360"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: left;" /></a><a href="http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa145/tamscrap/?action=view&current=b2ac6724.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?action=slideshow" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif" style="border-width: 0pt; float: right;" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Credits: </span>Created using Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. "Girly Without the Pink" digital kit by Shabby Princess. Various digital frames, overlays, & brushes by Katie Pertiet, Anna Aspnes, Nancie Rowe Janitz, Michelle Coleman, Rhonna Farrer, Jackie Eckles, & Heather Ann Melzer. Sketches & templates by Becky Fleck, Angie Briggs & Michelle Coleman. Fonts used - AL Sandra & Linenstroke.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > </span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-54830838800481282702007-10-21T21:07:00.000-07:002007-10-21T22:10:31.602-07:00Week #7 In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but this school year is just zipping along. I'm truly amazed that we have finished <span style="font-style: italic;">seven weeks</span> of homeschooling. What did we accomplish in week #7? Here's the rundown:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> We did SWR quite differently this week. I gave the Section G words to Grace in an oral pre-test, then we just focused on the missed words during the week--with a final test on Friday. As much as I love the methodology of SWR, it has become a huge burden on us timewise. After much contemplation, next week we'll be making a change in our spelling curriculum. We spent Friday afternoon at our local homeschool bookstore pouring over all the other spelling choices that are in workbook format. You know...easy pick-up-and-go type programs. I narrowed down the choices & had Grace look over them. And the winner is...<span style="font-style: italic;">{insert drum roll here}</span>...Spelling Workout. The parts of SWR that I will continue using are the phonogram cards & spelling rules. Those are like spelling gold!<br /><br />FLL is moving along nicely now that we've fast-forwarded to the second half of the book. Our lessons this week focused on the <span style="font-style: italic;">state of being verbs</span>. I've still got the chant stuck in my brain:<br /><br />am <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap]</span><br />is <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap]</span><br />are, was, were <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap]</span><br />be <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap]</span><br />being <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap]</span><br />been <span style="font-style: italic;">[clap clap]</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER: </span>Since manners are so important, we continued this week with house rule #6--show respect to others by using good manners. Here are a couple of good reads we picked up at the library:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7390000/7398175.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 219px;" src="http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7390000/7398175.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/12460000/12466532.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 243px;" src="http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/12460000/12466532.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And since we're on the subject of good manners, we finished thank-you notes from Grace's birthday & mailed them out at the beginning of the week. Here is the young author in action...searching for just the right words, then putting pen(cil) to paper.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlI1jTF5I/AAAAAAAAAL4/w78pCEjlUzo/s1600-h/20071019_EEA-thankyou2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlI1jTF5I/AAAAAAAAAL4/w78pCEjlUzo/s400/20071019_EEA-thankyou2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124011309785094034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIljTF4I/AAAAAAAAALw/xtrlJ-0N6gk/s1600-h/20071019_EEA-thankyou1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIljTF4I/AAAAAAAAALw/xtrlJ-0N6gk/s400/20071019_EEA-thankyou1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124011305490126722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING: </span>Grace's reading confidence, fluency, accuracy, speed, etc. is increasing every week!!! This week she continued reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Junie B. Jones</span> to herself and read the first three chapters of <span style="font-style: italic;">M&M and the Halloween Monster</span> aloud to me. We finished our read-aloud of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bridge to Terabithia</span>, and one of Grace's copywork passages was from the book:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlH1jTF1I/AAAAAAAAALY/4iwAl2YMiS0/s1600-h/20071019_EEA-copywork.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlH1jTF1I/AAAAAAAAALY/4iwAl2YMiS0/s400/20071019_EEA-copywork.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124011292605224786" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span> We have made it through Lesson #20 in Horizons 2. For Grace, math is best done as our first subject...lying on the kitchen floor...in her gown. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIVjTF2I/AAAAAAAAALg/RzIqsshRssc/s1600-h/20071019_EEA-math1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIVjTF2I/AAAAAAAAALg/RzIqsshRssc/s400/20071019_EEA-math1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124011301195159394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIVjTF3I/AAAAAAAAALo/l7REzrPLJgs/s1600-h/20071019_EEA-math2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxwlIVjTF3I/AAAAAAAAALo/l7REzrPLJgs/s400/20071019_EEA-math2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124011301195159410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH: </span>We did our fourth lesson from the Elementary Spanish video program, and Grace completed the activity sheet. We also played Spanish Bingo--including Emma. Lots of fun!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> We read the first half of Ch. 4 in SOTW1...Ancient Egyptian Mummies. We didn't finish the second half of the chapter, because we got so "wrapped up" in our studies. (Man, do I love a bad pun!) To continue with a Halloween theme, in life science we started learning about bats. Of course, you can't study bats without reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Stellaluna</span>.<br /><br />Throw in co-op and our continuing composer/artist studies from Ambleside Online, mix well, and <span style="font-style: italic;">that's a wrap</span>. (Sorry...couldn't resist one more mummy pun.) Thanks for stopping by. No scrapbook pages to share this week, but be sure to read the post below about <a href="http://evergreeneclecticacademy.blogspot.com/2007/10/digital-scrappin-101.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Digital Scrappin'</span></a>.Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-91041620306179327672007-10-20T21:34:00.000-07:002007-10-20T23:20:11.962-07:00Digital Scrappin' 101How do you get started in digital scrapbooking? And what do you do to get your completed layout from screen to album? I've had inquiries like these a time or two, so I thought I'd formally address this in--what else--a blog post.<br /><br />First, a little background info about me...I started scrapbooking traditionally (i.e., paper, scissors, glue stick) when Grace was about 6 months old. It was a painfully slow process for several reasons, namely:<br /><ol><li>Grace was only 6 months old. :) </li><li>I am <s style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">extremely</s><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><s style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">terribly</s><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><s style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">immensely</s><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><s style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 102, 51);">remarkably</s><span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">quite</span></span> indecisive.</li></ol>#1 meant that I had very little time to spend on scrapbooking.<br /><br />#2 meant that I spent most of that precious time trying to decide on the perfect placement of every photo & embellishment.<br /><br />In this case, 1 + 2 = very few completed layouts. Not that any of this stopped me from snapping 1000's of photos...literally.<br /><br />Fast forward to Christmas 2003...or, as I like to call it: <span style="font-style: italic;">If You Give a Mom a Digital Camera. <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>We treated ourselves to our very first digital camera. Digital camera=photos on computer. This led to "I'm printing them out anyway, so why don't I add a little here & a little there." And then, "Oh...what's this crazy new thing called digital scrapbooking all about?" Once I dipped my toes in the water, I quickly decided (yep, <span style="font-style: italic;">quickly</span>) to jump in with both feet. And I haven't looked back since. Not once. Why? Here's another handy list:<br /><ol><li>Set-up & clean-up takes only as long as opening & closing my laptop.</li><li>No sharp objects lying about tempting those little munchkins.</li><li>No unfinished layouts lying about either that the aforementioned munchkins might decide to "help" with.</li><li>If I don't have that perfect shade of pink paper to coordinate with my dd's outfit in the photo, no problem. I can shop online at midnight or make it myself.</li><li>Remember that problem I have with indecisiveness? Let's just say that CTRL-Z (undo) is my best friend.<br /></li><li>Digital layouts are easy to share. I can print multiple copies...one for Nana, one for Mamaw, and one for me. Plus, I can e-mail them to Matthew at work, my sister in Memphis, Kristi & Keith in Texas (you get the idea) or share them on my blog. :)</li></ol>So...what kind of software should you choose? First, think about how much time you want to invest in learning a new program. <span style="font-style: italic;">{I hear all the homeschoolers out there laughing maniacally at this statement. Time? For me? To learn something new?}</span> There are many software choices that range from super easy drag-and-drop, print-and-done types to the high learning-curve graphics-editing behemoth that is Adobe Photoshop CS3. I personally use CS3's little brother Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. The learning curve is not quite as high as CS3...and neither is the price.<br /><br />Now...how do you actually go about creating your first layout? Instead of reinventing the wheel by giving you all the nitty-gritty details of my workflow, I'll point you in the direction of some great tutorials:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/tutorials/software_tutorials.asp">The Shabby Shoppe</a> ~ Good "how to create your first layout" tutorials for CS2/CS3/PSE, including a *video* tutorial.</li><li><a href="http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/article.asp?article_id=2">Two Peas in a Bucket</a> ~ Another good "how to get started" tutorial.</li><li><a href="http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/a-tuts/publish/index.shtml">Scrapbook Bytes</a> ~ Even more tutorials.</li></ul>Next...free digital kits (paper, embellishments & the like) to get you <s>hooked</s> started:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp">Shabby Princess</a> ~ The *free* side of The Shabby Shoppe.</li><li><a href="http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/shopping.asp?f=c_336&c=24">Two Peas in a Bucket</a> ~ Freebies.</li></ul>Plus...some good layout galleries for inspiration:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://scrapbook-bytes.com/gallery/">Scrapbook Bytes</a></li><li><a href="http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=recent&gallery=4">Two Peas in a Bucket</a></li><li><a href="http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/index.php">Digi Shop Talk</a></li></ul>And...now that you've become a digi-addict...some great places to shop:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.designerdigitals.com/">Designer Digitals</a></li><li><a href="http://www.scrapartist.com/">ScrapArtist</a></li><li><a href="http://shabbymissjenndesigns.com/index.html">Shabby Miss Jenn</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/scripts/homepage.asp">The Shabby Shoppe</a></li><li><a href="http://www.jenwilsondesigns.com/shop/index.php">Jen Wilson Designs</a></li><li><a href="http://www.heatheranndesigns.com/">Heather Ann Designs</a></li><li><a href="http://digitaldesignessentials.com/">Digital Design Essentials</a></li></ul>Whew! Now on to printing. I like convenience. That means I print everything at home on my Epson Stylus Photo R220 printer using primarily either Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight or Epson Semigloss Scrapbook Paper. I scrap square sizes (8.5x8.5; 8x8; 6x6) & rectangular sizes (8.5x11 or 11x8.5). Still want to scrap 12x12? Check out Costco's photo center, if you have one nearby. And while I did start out scrapping 12x12, I really don't miss it now. Plus, the smaller sizes are easier for the kiddos to hold while looking through them. And you don't have to make them wear protective gloves & handle the scrapbook like it's a fine piece of your great-grandmother's china <span style="font-style: italic;">because it's the only copy you have</span>. While re-printing a damaged layout might be inconvenient, it's definitely not disastrous.<br /><br />So, that's my *summary* of the hows & whys of digital scrapbooking. Congratulations! You made it to the end of this rather lengthy post. For that, I'll give you my best <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harvey">Paul Harvey</a> impression. Remember <span style="font-style: italic;">If You Give a Mom a Digital Camera</span><span>? And now, for the rest of the story...<br /><br />When we bought our first digital camera, we went with a middle-of-the-road Canon PowerShot (point & shoot) because "we didn't need anything too big or fancy." Famous last words. Since then I've upgraded...<span style="font-style: italic;">twice</span>.<br /><br />Happy scrappin'!!!<br /></span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-70932374547889961352007-10-14T23:31:00.000-07:002007-10-15T00:15:29.129-07:00Week #6 In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ11jTFvI/AAAAAAAAAKc/k2kAsl4T_ig/s1600-h/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ11jTFvI/AAAAAAAAAKc/k2kAsl4T_ig/s400/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121448021763233522" border="0" /></a>Fall is one of my favorite times of year. It's also one of those times of the year that seems to just fly by. And that was before we started homeschooling. This week was no exception. However, despite several distractions...beautiful weather, Emma's impending cold, and a mid-week "date" night...we managed to get quite a bit done. Here are the highlights:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> This week in SWR we concentrated on reviewing the 70 phonograms, as well as a few key spelling rules. We picked back up in FLL with the second half of the book, which has a much better pace, IMHO. For fun, we added in some <span style="font-style: italic;">Schoolhouse Rock</span> to review all those parts of speech. Our main selection for copywork & memorization was "Table Manners" (aka "The Goops") by Gelett Burgess. This also tied in nicely with our <span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER</span> lesson.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING:</span> We're still working through <span style="font-style: italic;">Bridge to Terabithia</span> as our read-aloud. Grace's independent reading consisted of <span style="font-style: italic;">Owl at Home</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Young Cam Jansen & the Zoo Note Mystery</span>, and...drum roll please...<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>her FIRST EVER READ-TO-HERSELF CHAPTER BOOK. It's a Junie B. Jones book that she picked out on our last library visit. I'm sure Charlotte Mason would consider it twaddle, but I'm tickled that she finally wants to read something all by herself...to herself. I just had her give me a summary of each chapter as she finished it, then one night she read a chapter to me...just so I could see how she's doing. Two thumbs up!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH: </span>Grace completed four lessons in Horizons 2. And since we are working on skip-counting by 3's, we watched...you guessed it...Schoolhouse Rock's "3 is a Magic Number." Ahhh...good times...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER:</span> House rule #6--show respect to others by using good manners. See LA discussion above...love those Goops!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH: </span>We did a combination of UnitedStreaming's Elementary Spanish (unit1, lesson3) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Spanish for Children</span> (lesson1). I know...I know...I still need to post our Spanish plan. It's on my to-do list. :)<br /><br />Add in a co-op day and some beautiful, sunny days in the Pacific Northwest, and you've got a full week. In closing, here are some photos taken at our trip to the pumpkin patch today. Thanks for stopping by!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ11jTFwI/AAAAAAAAAKk/ZTRgV9fBs8c/s1600-h/20071014_PumpkinPatch1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ11jTFwI/AAAAAAAAAKk/ZTRgV9fBs8c/s400/20071014_PumpkinPatch1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121448021763233538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ2FjTFxI/AAAAAAAAAKs/QQsGH490z3s/s1600-h/20071014_PumpkinPatch2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RxMJ2FjTFxI/AAAAAAAAAKs/QQsGH490z3s/s400/20071014_PumpkinPatch2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121448026058200850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Credits: Created in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. Templates by Jen Caputo & Heather Roselli. "Cherrywood Farm" digital kit by Shabby Miss Jenn. Staples by Amber Clegg. Fonts used--Shalimar Swash & Linenstroke. </span><br /></span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-44535419364903406842007-10-06T21:37:00.000-07:002007-10-06T23:26:19.832-07:00Week #5 In Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Well...another week of Evergreen Eclectic Academy's inaugural year has come and gone. Here's the summary:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> We plowed through Section F of SWR this week. To add some excitement to our spelling--not that spelling isn't exciting enough on its own--I added a <a href="http://eclipsecrossword.com/">crossword puzzle</a>, <a href="http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearch/WordSearchFrm.jsp">word search</a>, as well as a couple of silly sentences for dictation (& illustration, of course).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwhnNFjTFtI/AAAAAAAAAKM/H-HtIuJRdpc/s1600-h/20071005_EEA-swr.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwhnNFjTFtI/AAAAAAAAAKM/H-HtIuJRdpc/s400/20071005_EEA-swr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118454451032757970" border="0" /></a><br />Moving on to FLL...or should I say moving on <span style="font-style: italic;">from</span> FLL??? I'm torn. I really, <span style="font-style: italic;">really </span>like the concept of FLL. It uses a slow, gentle pace (think of the snail in the Frog & Toad story "The Letter") with repetition...LOTS of repetition. LOTS & LOTS of repetition. LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of repetition. You get the idea. I'm just not sure this is our cup o' tea. I originally started the year with the idea of covering the entire book quickly. Now I may just skip ahead to the 2nd half of the book or abandon FLL entirely. I just can't decide. So...for this week anyway...we just focused on identifying the nouns in our copywork passage.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING:</span> We finished reading aloud <span style="font-style: italic;">Little House in the Big Woods, </span>and began reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Bridge to Terabithia.</span> Grace has seen the movie and wanted to read the novel, so I let this read-aloud be *her* choice. So far it's going well, although I am doing a bit of <span style="font-style: italic;">{beep}</span> censoring on some of the <span style="font-style: italic;">{beep}</span> language. Maybe I'm turning into an old fuddy-duddy, but I'm just not ready to explain the meaning of "b*tch*ng" to my 7yo daughter.<br /><br />More Frog & Toad for Grace's independent reading. This week's selection: <span style="font-style: italic;">Days with Frog and Toad.</span> For all my fellow procrastinators, I highly recommend "Tomorrow." No hurry...just whenever you get around to it. :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span> We're cruising along in Horizons 2. We completed Lessons 9-12, including our first "test." We're still playing "Go to the Dump" and working on those completing-the-ten addition facts. Multi-digit addition appears to be Grace's friend. I'm so happy!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER: </span>House rule #5--exhibit patience & self-control. Favorite fable: "The Crow and the Pitcher."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rwh5h1jTFuI/AAAAAAAAAKU/wfZ8uQODWig/s1600-h/20071005_EEA-character.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Rwh5h1jTFuI/AAAAAAAAAKU/wfZ8uQODWig/s400/20071005_EEA-character.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118474598724343522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> We were having so much fun on the earliest writings (from SOTW1 last week) that we extended our study of it into this week. The girls each made their own cuneiform using Sculpey Clay. Now, I don't know how many of you have had the opportunity to work with Sculpey Clay, so you may (or may not) be able to appreciate this next little gem. While *patiently* working to get the Sculpey Clay <span style="font-style: italic;">{ahem} </span>"sculpt"-able...yeah, I know it's not a real word, but I love a bad pun...Grace made the observation that "little by little...does...the...trick!" I loved seeing the light bulb go off in her head as she made the connection to our earlier discussion of "The Crow and the Pitcher." So we managed to get the cuneiforms sculpted, carved and baked. Next step: painting! Then photos to follow.<br /><br />Another afternoon I read about the Rosetta Stone from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs</span>, as the girls stamped with a hieroglyph kit I found at B&N. We also read some of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt </span>and caught up on map work & coloring pages from SOTW1, Chapters 2-3.<br /><br />Our science "creature of the week" was the spider. We scored several great library finds on this subject. One of our long-time favorite tales to "spin" (yes, another bad pun intended) is <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spider and the Fly</span> by Tony DiTerlizzi (based on a tale by Mary Howitt). If you're looking for something a little creepy--with a message--for some Halloween reading, be sure to check this one out!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7220000/7222085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7220000/7222085.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SPANISH:</span> Our new venture this week was Spanish. I originally planned to use <span style="font-style: italic;">¡El Español Facil! Level 1</span> as our spine. Then along came the <a href="http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool/">Homeschool Buyers Co-op</a> with a group buy on Discovery Education's <a href="http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm">UnitedStreaming</a> (which is <span style="font-style: italic;">still available, </span>by the way...check it out <a href="https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_epp_offer&Itemid=426">here</a>)...so we're using Elementary Spanish via UnitedStreaming as our main program with lots of supplementary materials. Stay tuned for a post on <span style="font-style: italic;">un plan Español ecléctico...</span>coming soon to a blog near you.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">OTHER:</span> We are still listening to Rimsky-Korsakov and studying da Vinci. Grace also did a few <a href="http://www.geeguides.com/">GeeArt</a> lessons on the computer this week. Co-op is continuing to go well. We even had a break from the rain this week to get out & do a little informal "nature study" at our local lake. We spotted tons of spider webs...some even occupied.<br /><br />Well...that about wraps things up for this week. Thanks for listening! <span style="font-style: italic;">¡Adiós!</span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-13399434182191015622007-09-30T21:55:00.000-07:002007-09-30T23:47:21.712-07:00"Ambling" Through Our Fourth Week<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/triviumacademy/WeeklyReportBanner.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Wow! It's amazing how quickly these first four weeks of homeschooling have gone by! Each week we've added a bit to our *core* curriculum of the 3 R's. Week #4 brought "Art & Music Appreciation"...CM style. If you've never been to the <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/">Ambleside Online</a> site, take a stroll on over. You'll find an amazing wealth of information on Charlotte Mason, including a free curriculum outline. While our homeschool is not 100% CM, I do find the AO <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/ArtSch.shtml">Artist</a> & <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/ComposerSch.shtml">Composer</a> Studies to be an exceptional addition to our plan for several reasons:<br /><br />(1) I know diddly about art, artists, art appreciation...you get the gist. After all, I am a CPA. I can do your taxes, but please don't ask me which art movements occurred during the transition from the Renaissance period to Neoclassicism. That's what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_periods#See_also">Wikipedia</a> is for.<br /><br />(2) I know squat about music, composers, and the like. I did take piano for a few months in the 4th grade. I did a fine rendition of "Blueberry Hill" at my recital...but not quite Carnegie Hall material, if you know what I mean.<br /><br />(3) The AO Artist & Composer Studies are completely planned out for you. And they are free. Now that's what I call a great combo. Even better than the *Souper Sandwich Combo* I had last night at Red Robin. (Which was fabulous, by the way.) All kidding aside, the thought of choosing which artists/composers, then which works by said artist/composer was just WAY too overwhelming for this left-brained gal. AO does all the work for me. There is even a newly-formed Yahoo group (<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AOArtPrints/">AOArtPrints</a>) where you can download the artist's works and print them at home. That is very well-suited to my typical planning-for-the-next-thing-at-midnight scenario.<br /><br />So...to make a long story short...we added in our study of Leonardo da Vinci and Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov this week. For those of you who may not be familiar with Rimsky-Korsakov's name, check out this interpretation of "Flight of the Bumblebee." Makes me wish I had taken guitar lessons instead of piano.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/muqflDqEEp8"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/muqflDqEEp8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><br />Now on to the nuts & bolts of our week...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> SWR continues to rock. We finished Section E, and after Grace wrote her "best original sentence(s)" for the week, she quickly ran to get *props* from her room to act it out! <span style="font-style: italic;">{Warning to all long-time SWR users: I allow Grace to use purple pencil to mark the words in her learning log. *gasp*}<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCPtFjTFoI/AAAAAAAAAJo/5mg0b0sddn4/s1600-h/20070928_EEA-swr.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCPtFjTFoI/AAAAAAAAAJo/5mg0b0sddn4/s400/20070928_EEA-swr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116247181439997570" border="0" /></a><br />We also completed several lessons in FLL this week. Still reviewing nouns...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING:</span> Grace's independent reading this week was "Frog and Toad Together." And we read the first nine chapters in our new read-aloud, "Little House in the Big Woods."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH:</span> We completed Lessons 6-8 in Horizons 2. Then, in preparation for the multi-digit addition that appears in Lesson 9, we did this *fun* worksheet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCSIljTFpI/AAAAAAAAAJw/tJxlSuTndXg/s1600-h/20070928_EEA-math.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCSIljTFpI/AAAAAAAAAJw/tJxlSuTndXg/s400/20070928_EEA-math.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116249852909655698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> Read Chapter 3 in SOTW1; completed narration & coloring page. Didn't quite get to making our own cuneiform, so that's on the list for this coming week. For science, we studied <span style="font-style: italic;">ants.</span> Lots of reading here: Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals, "Are You an Ant?," "Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants: A Book About Ants," several Aesop's Fables dealing with ants, and "The Ant Bully" by John Nickle. Kind of partial to the last one, since my dh spent 2 years of his life working on the major motion picture. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FQDG665JL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FQDG665JL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ogHgHghoL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ogHgHghoL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER:</span> House rule #5--obey the first time. Favorite reads: "Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore" and "My Own Self."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MEMORIZATION:</span> "Whole Duty of Children" by Robert Louis Stevenson.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>And so I bring my rambling for the week to an end. In closing, I leave you with Grace's interpretation of da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and "Self-Portrait."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCXKFjTFrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/J3XAXSuQvI0/s1600-h/20070928_EEA-art.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RwCXKFjTFrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/J3XAXSuQvI0/s400/20070928_EEA-art.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116255376237598386" border="0" /></a>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-22297058377169047822007-09-24T00:02:00.000-07:002007-09-24T00:02:41.057-07:00Week #3 In ReviewWe're continuing to figure out the lay of the land in Homeschooling World. Luckily we have a compass. And snacks. Especially coffee & chocolate for the teacher. :) I'm happy to report that LOTS of things are going well. Here are highlights from this past week:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span></span> Hooray for SWR! We completed Section D this week & spent time on multi-letter phonograms covered in Lists A-D. We even had a rousing round of <a href="http://shop.morningstarlearning.com/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=12">Phonogram BINGO</a>, which did double duty with the soon-to-be-3yo set. I gave Emma card #1 (single letters only) and Grace card #3 (multi-letter phonograms), then took turns calling sounds to each of them. The first to cover the entire card "won." Of course, I made it so that they basically came out even. It was great to see Grace helping Emma with the few sounds that she didn't know. We also did a couple of lessons from FLL focusing on picture narration & story narration. I decided to take a break from nouns this week. I'm pretty sure Grace didn't mind.<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">READING:</span> We finished our read-aloud selection, "Charlotte's Web." Man, I'd forgotten what a gut wrencher that one is. It's not like I didn't know Charlotte was going to die...it's the way she dies. Or, more specifically, the way E.B. White writes about her death. Heart-breaking...even if she is a spider. If you haven't picked up a "classic" children's book in a while, this one certainly gets our vote. In other notable news, Grace's independent reading consisted of two "Amelia Bedelia" books, "Little Bear," and a Halloween book that she picked out on our most recent library trip..."The House That Drac Built." I also have her *help* me read whenever possible. I think she's on to me, though. Tonight I asked her to "help me out" with a book, and she groaned & said, "Oh no! That means I have to read the whole thing!" Out of the mouths of babes...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATH: </span></span>Not much has changed this week. Grace still LOVES it when we play Pyramid and Go to the Dump; and she LOVES her MathShark. But she groans, moans, and drags her feet anytime I pull out a math worksheet. Despite this, we still managed to get a couple of lessons done in Horizons 2, and one in Singapore PM 1A. Slowly, but surely, she's getting the "making 10s" concept down. BTW, <a href="http://www.homeschoolmath.net/ebooks.php">Math Mammoth</a> is good "extra practice" for Singapore. We used the "Adding with 9" worksheet in Math Mammoth 2A alongside our lesson in Singapore.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORY & SCIENCE:</span> We completed Ch. 2 "Ancient Egyptians Lived on the Nile River" in SOTW1, including narrations, illustrated copywork, and some videos on Ancient Egypt from United Streaming. We shared the reading of "Archaeologists Dig for Clues." (Yes, I know this technically *goes* with last week's SOTW chapters...) In life science, we discussed habitats & food chains using Kingfisher's "First Encyclopedia of Animals" and "First Picture Atlas of Animals" as our spines. We also did a shared reading of "Magic School Bus Hops Home: A Book About Animal Habitats" and "Magic School Bus Gets Eaten: A Book About Food Chains." Gotta love the Friz.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARACTER:</span> This week we focused on house rule #3--"Always tell the truth." Plenty of good reading on this subject. Our favorites were "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and "George Washington and the Cherry Tree." Versions of both stories can be found in "The Children's Book of Virtues" by William J. Bennett.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CO-OP:</span> Still going well. In art class, Grace started working on her paper mache bowl...using a balloon, a large yogurt container, and the lid from a small yogurt container. In musical theater, the class started learning the song & dance for "Zippity Do Da." Emma joined in from the back row. In gymnastics, Grace is learning how to do a handstand. As for Emma...she was definitely more comfortable in preschool storytime this week...she even left my side! :) Next week--across the room?!?!? You'll have to stay tuned to find out...Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-82369791952811812112007-09-23T22:02:00.000-07:002007-09-23T22:37:51.207-07:00Grace's First Scrapbook LayoutSo, last week I mentioned that we finished our dinosaur lapbook...and that Grace created her very first scrapbook layout. Those of you who know me can just imagine the excitement that I felt...tee hee. And the icing on the cake was when she said, "I can't believe it. I'm scrapbooking. And I LIKE it!"<br /><br />Now, I suppose I could just post pictures of this milestone. But then what kind of a scrapbooker would I be??? I have to scrapbook it, of course!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RvdHkljTFlI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/qm8TXZkGaXk/s1600-h/20070916_GracesFirstScrapbo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RvdHkljTFlI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/qm8TXZkGaXk/s400/20070916_GracesFirstScrapbo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113634595783513682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Credits: Created using Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and “Paris Flea Market” kit by <a href="http://shabbymissjenndesigns.com/index.html">Shabby Miss Jenn</a>. Fonts used: Adobe Casion Pro, BlueCake and Carpenter ICG.</span><br /><br /><br />And here's a shot of the layout she created:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RvdH4ljTFmI/AAAAAAAAAJY/8lxaNpLJ9ms/s1600-h/20070916_1stSBLayout.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RvdH4ljTFmI/AAAAAAAAAJY/8lxaNpLJ9ms/s400/20070916_1stSBLayout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113634939380897378" border="0" /></a><br />The two larger photos were taken when we went to "Walking With Dinosaurs-LIVE!" this summer. I found the smaller photo on the internet. The background papers are from the "Paris Flea Market" digital kit by <a href="http://shabbymissjenndesigns.com/index.html">Shabby Miss Jenn</a>. I printed the papers out on my color laser printer so that Grace could use them for *traditional* scrapbooking. The hot pink cardstock is a leftover from my days as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. We picked up the dinosaur stickers at an office supply store (Office Max, I think). Overall, I think she did a great job! But I may be a wee bit biased. :)Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-73079325247089342782007-09-16T19:37:00.000-07:002007-09-16T19:52:45.692-07:00Week #2 In Review<span style="font-weight:bold;">LANGUAGE ARTS:</span> This week we started SWR by reviewing the first 26 phonograms, building the consonant/vowel page, then learning the multi-letter phonograms introduced in lists A-C. Grace already knows how to spell all of the words in these lists, so I opted to start the spelling log at list D but didn’t want to skip over the multi-letter phonograms. We’ve also gone through the first 21 lessons in FLL. Much of this is also review at this point, so we’re combining several lessons in one day. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CHARACTER:</span> The focus was on our house rule #2 ~ <span style="font-style:italic;">“Be kind in actions and words.” </span> We had several stories dealing with kindness, including “The Way of the Circle” by James Vollbracht, Aesop’s Fable “The Lion and the Mouse,” and a Chinese fable “Dung-Shi Copies Eyebrows.” We have also read aloud the first 10 chapters of “Charlotte’s Web” – and the girls watched the movie over the weekend. I had Grace write and illustrate several quotes from these stories as copywork during the week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">INDEPENDENT READING:</span> Grace continued reading Nora Gaydos books, as well as several step 1 & 2 books. She also had some computer time on Starfall.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">MATH:</span> We played the Pyramid card game (one of our new favorites!) and the Go to the Dump game (from the RightStart Card Games book) many times this week. Our Horizons 2 kit arrived early Thursday morning, so we managed to squeeze in a couple of lessons from it before the end of the week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">HISTORY:</span> We read the introduction and chapter 1 in SOTW 1, as well as some Magic School Bus books. Narrations are going as expected…heavily prompted, but at least she is listening!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">SCIENCE:</span> We finished our dinosaur notebook/scrapbook/flapbook, and Grace was SO EXCITED that she had created her very first scrapbook page…mostly by herself. Since scrapbooking is one of my passions as well, I’m just thrilled that she enjoyed it. (Now if I could get her as enthusiastic about math as I am!) I still need to take pictures, so I’ll post them later. We also re-read “The Magic School Bus: In the Time of the Dinosaurs.” <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CO-OP:</span> This was also our first week at our homeschool co-op. Grace is taking Musical Theatre, Gymnastics and Art…and enjoyed them all on the first day. Emma is in Preschool Storytime…and tolerated it as long as I was there with her. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of the other homeschool families better over the course of the year. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">ART:</span> Grace is always making an art project of some sort. This week was no different. She definitely gets her artistic side from her dad. She also completed a GeeArt lesson on the computer. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHT:</span> This was a major birthday week at our house. Grace turned 7 last Sunday, then Matthew’s birthday was Friday. Instead of having a full-blown party, Grace opted for inviting her friend to go to the circus with us & have a sleepover. Since I don’t have any “school” pictures to scrap this week, I’ll end with one from the circus…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ru3pxZCQUPI/AAAAAAAAAJI/Fcuqug28WeE/s1600-h/20070908_CircusClowns.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/Ru3pxZCQUPI/AAAAAAAAAJI/Fcuqug28WeE/s400/20070908_CircusClowns.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110998186878587122" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Credits: Created in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. Layered template by Katie Pertiet at <a href="http://www.designerdigitals.com">Designer Digitals</a>. Digital kit by <a href="http://www.shabbymissjenndesigns.com/">Shabby Miss Jenn</a>. Fonts used: SP Dinner & a Movie, Misproject, and Adobe Casion Pro.<br /></span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-12210029448788095082007-09-11T22:34:00.001-07:002007-09-11T22:49:04.217-07:00Fun with MathTrying to get the concept of "making tens" down pat with your kiddo? Check out this cool <a href="http://my5wolfcubs.blogspot.com/2007/09/mathmagical-monday-make-10.html">Pyramid</a> card game, so graciously shared by a mom from the <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/activeboards.php">WTM boards</a>. This has been a big hit in our house the past couple of days. <br /><br />And...if you're like me, you know you have a complete deck of cards in the house...somewhere...but you just can't find all the 5's and you really, really, <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> want to play this game first thing tomorrow. Never fear! Print out a set of <a href="http://home.netcom.com/~hexchex/flashsumfuncards.html">SumFun</a> cards tonight.Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-62805228083506663942007-09-08T22:04:00.000-07:002007-09-08T23:33:48.058-07:00Our First Week<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RuOOcvCN3sI/AAAAAAAAAI4/A9dLe8L617o/s1600-h/20070903_FirstDayofSchool.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RuOOcvCN3sI/AAAAAAAAAI4/A9dLe8L617o/s400/20070903_FirstDayofSchool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108083026681519810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RuOOc_CN3tI/AAAAAAAAAJA/qySK2YTtNVc/s1600-h/20070903_FirstDayofSchool_p.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7lSj4zId_yw/RuOOc_CN3tI/AAAAAAAAAJA/qySK2YTtNVc/s400/20070903_FirstDayofSchool_p.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108083030976487122" /></a><br />I am pleased to report that we all survived (and...I dare say...even *enjoyed*) our first week homeschooling. We focused mainly on the FOUR R's this week: <span style="font-style:italic;">reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic, and rules.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">READING:</span> I started the week with the intention of having Grace choose two different books to read each day. I quickly discovered that it was better to have her repeat the same two books each day to build fluency (& confidence). This week's selections were <span style="font-style:italic;">"Mr. Putter & Tabby Walk the Dog"</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">"Mr. Putter & Tabby Catch the Cold"</span> by Cynthia Rylant. These were also a big hit with Emma, who's happy to be doing "preschool homeschool"...she's been asking me when we were going to start school for a couple of months now. We also added in some Nora Gaydos books and a few selections from <span style="font-style:italic;">"Reading Literature: The Primer"</span> by Harriette Taylor Treadwell and Margaret Free, available online at <a href="http://www.mainlesson.com">The Baldwin Project</a>. This led to some interesting discussions, particularly when we read "The Old Woman and the Pig." You just don't see too many children's stories talking about hanging a butcher these days. But I digress...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">'RITING:</span> For copywork, we used "The Golden Rule" and the moral "Slow and steady wins the race." The latter came back to haunt me as I tried to hurry her up while she was brushing her teeth, etc. Let's just say that she could give Prissy from "Gone With the Wind" a run for her money (pardon the pun). We also started working on cursive letters <span style="font-style:italic;">a</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">c</span>. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">'RITHMETIC:</span> Ahhh...just when you think you have it all planned out.... So, my original idea was to combine Singapore Math with Rod & Staff. Singapore for the mind-stretching mental math; R&S for the drill. The first day the drill was met with *some* enthusiasm; the second day the eye-rolling began. When I inquired about the source of her discontent, Grace (very politely) told me that she wanted to work on something she didn't already know. Since my main objective was to increase the speed of recall, I've decided to ditch R&S drill in favor of some math card games & MathShark. So on day 3, she's already diggin' the MathShark. :) And...since those who know me know that I can't leave well enough alone (think Sally ordering at a restaurant from "When Harry Met Sally"...yes, I'm showing my age), I've decided to now combine Singapore with Horizons. Why Horizons? I think Grace may do better with the spiral approach. I should receive my Horizons 2 order at the end of next week, so we'll focus on games till then. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">RULES:</span> We started our first day of school by going over our house rules and reading <span style="font-style:italic;">"The Golden Rule"</span> by Ilene Cooper. Each week I plan to focus on one of the rules in our list. It always makes a bigger impression if I have books, etc. to *back-up* what I'm saying. Then it's not just a "because I said so" type thing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">OTHER: </span>This summer we went to the "Walking With Dinosaurs-LIVE" show, so it seemed like a great time to do a unit study on dinosaurs. We spent some time this week reading more dino books, doing a dino dig, going to the "Colossal Fossils" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, and working on our dinosaur lapbook/scrapbook. Since we are what you'd call "girly girls," our dino dig took place on the patio table on our deck in moon sand. Not exactly authentic by any means, but lots of fun nonetheless. <br /><br />Well, that just about sums things up for our first week. Be sure to check out this week's most quotable quote & memorable moment on the scrapbook pages above.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Credits: Created using Photoshop Elements 5.0; Bookworm Mega Kit by <a href="http://www.digitaldesignessentials.com">Gina Cabrera</a>; Shmootzy alpha brushes by <a href="http://www.scrapartist.com">Nancie Rowe Janitz</a>; Swirled photo borders by <a href="http://www.heatheranndesigns.com">Heather Ann Melzer</a>; Torn edge by <a href="http://www.designerdigitals.com">Anna Aspnes</a>; Note paper by <a href="http://www.designerdigitals.com">Katie Pertiet</a>; Big circle brush by Jackie Eckles; Evergreen Eclectic Academy logo created by me. :)<br /><br /></span>Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-35187429193346826502007-08-24T00:24:00.000-07:002007-08-24T01:03:41.497-07:00House RulesInspired by and adapted from <a href="http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com">Trivium Academy</a> and <a href="http://smoothstonesacademy.blogspot.com">Smooth Stones Academy</a>, we decided to come up with our own set of <span style="font-style:italic;">"family rules."</span> Mind you, these are not new ideas in our household--although some of them get tested on a regular basis--but actually having them down in clear, concise statements for regular review & memorization will at least nix the ever-popular "I didn't know" &/or "I forgot" excuses from the girlies. <span style="font-style:italic;">{I know, I know...but I can dream, can't I?}</span><br /><br />I found a great book (suggested by another homeschooler on one of the many forums/e-mail loops I <del>lurk at</del> peruse) appropriately titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Rule-Ilene-Cooper/dp/081090960X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0003226-8421516?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187941118&sr=8-1">"The Golden Rule"</a> by Ilene Cooper. I just read through it myself, and it looks to be the perfect introduction to our house rules. After all, it really is the foundation for all of the others. So, here you go...Eclectic Maxims for Living:<br /><br />1. Treat others the way I want to be treated.<br />2. Be kind in actions and words.<br />3. Always tell the truth. <br />4. Obey the first time.<br />5. Exhibit patience and self-control.<br />6. Show respect to others by using good manners. <br />7. Share cheerfully – my toys, my time, my talents.<br />8. Always do my best.<br /><br />And a few more that I might throw in...just for fun:<br /><br />9. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.<br />10. Comfort is everything.<br />11. You can't go wrong with cheese.Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910354865649346987.post-50234669676586037792007-07-24T22:21:00.000-07:002007-08-09T00:49:45.740-07:00Planning 911I am a perennial planner. There...I said it out loud. Admission is the first step. I plan, pre-plan, think about planning. Then suddenly I realize I've overplanned and find myself overwhelmed. That is today. I've got too much homeschool info crammed into my brain...curriculum choices, scheduling, when to start the school year. Oh yeah...and what to do with a very independent, strong-willed 2.5 year old. But that's another post altogether. <br /><br />So I figure I just need to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and get this stuff out of my head (and the dozen or so spreadsheets that I've started, then ditched) and out there for all my avid readers--all 3 of you--to see. This is the official debut of Evergreen Eclectic Academy's 2007-2008 Schedule...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">{insert drum roll here}...</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2nd Grade:<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">Math </span>- Singapore/R&S combination<br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">Language Arts </span>- First Language Lessons; Spell to Write & Read<br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">History </span>- Story of the World I<br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">Science </span>- LLB Life Science 1 combined with <a href="http://savefile.com/files/198191">lesson plans</a> from Trivium Academy<br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">Spanish </span>- ¡El Español Facil! Level 1<br />~ <span style="font-style:italic;">Co-op </span>- Art, Musical Theatre, Gymnastics<br />~ Daily independent reading & read-alouds<br />~ Copywork, narration, memorization<br /><br />That's the plan. Since this is our first year to homeschool, I reserve the right to tweak as necessary. :)Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05880187753528126390noreply@blogger.com0